Psychosocial Predictors of Quality of Life among Patients with Hypothyroidism; A Cross-sectional study in Pakistan

Abstract

About 750 million people are suffering from Thyroid related disorders, 5–10% of which are from Pakistan. Although psychosocial factors and quality of life are associated, psychosocial predictors of quality of life among patients with hypothyroidism are unknown. Fifty patients (38females, 12males) with hypothyroidism were recruited from public sector hospitals of Rawalpindi in this cross-sectional study using purposive sampling technique. Socio-Demographic and Clinical variables information Form; Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, Multidimensional scale of perceived Social Support, General Preventive Health Behaviors checklist and WHO Quality of Life Scale-Brief were used for collecting data. Results revealed that 60% patient with hypothyroidism had symptoms of anxiety; 44% had depression; 8% had poor social support; 14% had maladaptive health behaviors and 16% had low quality of life. Depression was found to be most significant predictor (β = -0.532, p< 0.001) of quality of life among patients with hypothyroidism explaining 38% of the variance. It is concluded that depression is the most significant predictor of quality of life while social support and healthy lifestyle behaviors also play a part in improving quality of life. Therefore, it is important to provide psychological help to cope with psychological distress of patients with hypothyroidism.